Espiritualitat ignasiana

This publication is about conversation, about its conditions of possibility in a world where distraction and dispersion have impoverished it to limits we could not even suspect. And the framework or tradition from which the author speaks to us is that of Ignatian spirituality, a spirituality whose central place is precisely in conversation. As the author says: “The first requirement for spiritual conversation is to listen. To listen deep down, to acknowledge the other and his presence, to show compassion and not just walk on by. And then ask.

In this booklet you will find two contemporary views on Ignatius and his spirituality, both views founded on the conviction that every authentic and profound spirituality impels us to be always encountering God in the world. In opting for a spirituality that keeps our eyes wide open and our feet on the ground, Mariola and Javier offer us the gift of considering the figure of Ignatius Loyola and contemplating the good news of Jesus of Nazareth from his perspective. In so doing, they throw a little more light on the path ahead of us. (From the prologue by Pau Vidal)

Praying with the senses is a practice proposed by Saint Ignatius in his Spiritual Exercises. The benefit of knowing, developing, and practicing this way of praying is evident from many centuries of Christian spiritual tradition. A great many authors have studied in depth the use of the senses in prayer, and they have discovered how the spiritual senses can be used in coordination with the bodily senses.

The title of the present booklet “I alone, what can I be?” is a key expression which appears in number 58 of the Spiritual Exercises text. The “I alone” does not refer to a physical solitude (I’m on my own) or a psychological one (I feel alone), but instead to a vital choice:  “by and with my own strength,” “without needing God for anything.”  A presumption characterised by covetousness and pride which ends up turning into the root of sin (personal and structural) and its characteristic turmoil.

Christianity, which is the following of Christ, consists of an entire life which is converted into a true sacrifice. This is not reduced to acts which are properly “religious”, like prayer or the sacraments, but rather the entire existence of the Christian should be converted into a form of living for God. Secularity, understood as the human and mundane condition of our life, is the substance of living as a Christian.

The text we have before us is an adaptation of the thirty-day course of Spiritual Exercises that Jesuit theologian Fernando Manresa gave years ago in Bolivia, by way of personalized spiritual accompaniment. As homage to his former teacher and friend, Carles Marcet has adapted the immense amount of material so that it fits into the reduced space of a booklet, thus converting it into an eight-day course of Spiritual Exercises. Our hope is that it will help both exercitants and directors to enter into a personal encounter with the God who is “always greater.”

Through the writings and the life of St. Ignatius, we will see to what extent the dimensions of accompanying, being accompanied and in companionship with others are fundamental to the process of maturation in our faith, to the pilgrimage of our hope and to the strengthening of our love. So therefore, they are dimensions to keep present before us and to cultivate, not only in our personal lives, but also in the groups and ecclesial communities of which we form a part.

There have been many Christian teachers or mystics who have explained the effects of contemplative prayer, but not how to do it. Fr. Jalics has filled this void with a suggestion that was born through a personal experience of detention and isolation that took place under the Argentine dictatorship. In this Notebook, which begins with a magnificent prologue by Xavier Melloni, he explains how his contemplative “journey” of prayer is tied into the practice of the Ignatian Exercises.

We find the phrase with which this publication is titled in St. Paul when he says, “But when in the fullness of time God sent His Son” (Gal 4:4), or “He has allowed us to know the mystery of his will, according to his goodness, which He had proposed in Himself, to bring together all things in Christ in the dispensation of the fullness of time.” (Eph 1:9-10). Beginning with this expression, the author of this article directly formulates this question: could Paul have written this today? Or even more clearly: can we understand it?

In fidelity to the purpose of our GUIDES collection, we offer in these pages some basic materials for understanding and practicing apostolic discernment in common. The materials include documents of the General Congregations, along with letters and other relevant texts of the Superiors General of the Society of Jesus. This compendium of texts is also an invitation to engage in a practice that will help us to respond in a realistic and relevant way to the challenges of the historical moment in which we live.